Turkish workers recall producing military parts just after 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation

Fifty-two years ago, just after the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, workers at the Ata Industrial Estate in the Turkish capital Ankara dedicated their production workshops to the Turkish Armed Forces, manufacturing critical military spare parts as Türkiye faced sweeping arms embargoes.

Anadolu spoke with Ziya Yalcin, 75, who worked at the industrial estate at the time.

He said that as a young man, after recently finishing his military service, he wanted to support Turkish troops through his factory work.

"My mentor told us about the embargo, and we decided to mobilize," Yalcin said.

Workshop owners pledged their equipment and skills before the General Staff invited them to produce urgently needed military components under the Turkish Land Forces Command.

"We produced for 45 days. Most of what we made were parts for military vehicles. Later, they told us: 'Thank you. We’re stopping production because our needs have been more than met’," Yalcin said.

He added that then-Land Forces Commander Gen. Esref Akinci later thanked the volunteers, saying: "You produced in 45 days parts we (normally) couldn’t manufacture in six months."

Orhan Aydin, who chairs the board of directors in Ankara’s OSTIM industrial zone, said the spirit of solidarity that emerged during the operation continues today.

"We are proud that OSTIM companies contribute to nearly 100% of Türkiye's defense industry projects,” he said, referring to Türkiye’s booming defense industry.

"Back then our resources were limited. Today, there is virtually nothing that cannot be produced in OSTIM," he added.

Türkiye launched the Cyprus Peace Operation on July 20, 1974, after invoking its rights as a guarantor state following attacks on Turkish Cypriots.

The operation was followed by international sanctions and arms embargoes, prompting the country to accelerate investment in its domestic defense industry.

Decades-long problem

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.